Got turned into a pulp by a neutron star - what did I do wrong?

[VR StarLightPL]

Now that you mention it, I think that that thing what ate me was indeed a white dwarf. I was also in my ASP made for jumprange, so wimpy thrusters certainly were possible.

I also found that it helps to have orbit lines on, and kinda wiggle the ship on approach to see where the exclusion zone is. Wiggle because back when I was playing the EZ wasn't displayed until ship was at a certain angle to EZ.

 

[Flossy]

I also found that it helps to have orbit lines on, and kinda wiggle the ship on approach to see where the exclusion zone is. Wiggle because back when I was playing the EZ wasn't displayed until ship was at a certain angle to EZ.

Yes I always have orbit lines on as they also help when scooping from other stars. If I notice the orbit line on the way in, I try and make a mental note of where it is in relation to the cones. As someone else in this thread said, it is usually where the cones start to 'waggle about' more.

 

[Ebel]

Cone-tipper here. I never enter any closer than the last 1/4 of the cone, usually less than that, and always slide in slowly and nearly parallel.

Never lost a ship that way.

Yep, that's my method as well. Fly in about 5.9 to 6.2 and punch it up when boosted. I like dropping in when it is getting a bit wispy.

 

[Shaamaan]

This is what you did wrong. You enter the neutron star tail and dip towards the star which is the opposite direction to the correct approach. It is amazing you have got away without a problem thus far.

I may have worded this incorrectly. I never fly directly into the star. I was trying to convey that my target "area" for charging the FSD is just the tip of the cone, at low speeds. I do indeed approach it aiming away from the star - albeit I may very well do it "perpendicular" to the cone itself, meaning I could have aimed "more" away...

 

[gooddoc]

Anyone care to comment on how to handle the turbulence of a cone? I'm... pretty confident I was aiming away from the star when I entered the cone on that fateful evening, yet I got turned around by the turbulence... In other words - is it actually possible to correct one's course inside a cone at all?

My method has always been, to enter the tip of the jet right near the end, flying away from the NS, always at an angle (flying almost parallel with the jet & turning into it).

The speed I use depends on the strength of the stream. For a vicious pulsating stream I'll enter at around 10-20 km/s. For the lesser pulsating 'whispy' streams I reduce to around 2km/s. Sometimes I have to re-enter the stream because I exit it before a complete charge - that's how near to the end I'm entering the stream.

Once inside the stream, I don't know why, but I fight the turbulence, trying to keep to a fixed point, countering the swings of the ship. I've no idea if this helps or not - maybe it's instinct like when I'm figting a 'diction in the minigame.

If the stream is strong I usually give it 3-4 seconds then maximum throttle out, if a weak stream I wait until I'm informed of a charge then max out. Again though still fighting the turbulance trying to keep a straight line out.

The method's only failed me a couple of years ago, but that was the 'infamous' FSD charge bug - it CTD after a charge, when then jumping out of the system & upon re-load put you back inside the stream, taking serious damage.

Now White Dwarfs!!! They are a nightmare - nearly lost my 'conda a good two year ago, barely got out with a battered ship. Vowed never to FSD in one of those again!

I keep well clear of those. Drop throttle to zero turning ship 180 degrees as I do so & 'leg it'.

 

[Lightspeed]

I may have worded this incorrectly. I never fly directly into the star. I was trying to convey that my target "area" for charging the FSD is just the tip of the cone, at low speeds. I do indeed approach it aiming away from the star - albeit I may very well do it "perpendicular" to the cone itself, meaning I could have aimed "more" away...

Then it would appear you did nothing wrong at all ... unless you didn't increase speed enough (which seems unlikely considering you are far out in the whispy part).

Any chance you entered a White Dwarf cone instead? That would explain everything.

 

[Aashenfox]

I could have aimed "more" away...

This is it, 100%. Come in at a shallow angle, don't give the gravitational eddies a single chance to turn you into the star.

 

[Shaamaan]

Then it would appear you did nothing wrong at all ... unless you didn't increase speed enough (which seems unlikely considering you are far out in the whispy part).

Any chance you entered a White Dwarf cone instead? That would explain everything.

Hmm, I'm not sure and I can't say I remember. What's the deal with those? And, more importantly, if they are both boosters and increased hazards, is it possible to have the navigation ignore them when it comes to jump calculations?

 

[ick]

Sometimes the cone is very small and not easily scoopable. is that just the variety of characteristics in boosting or did I actually have a white dwarf and didnt realize it?

 

[Red Anders]

Hmm, I'm not sure and I can't say I remember. What's the deal with those? And, more importantly, if they are both boosters and increased hazards, is it possible to have the navigation ignore them when it comes to jump calculations?

You can ignore them by simply deselecting them in the galmap (choose the 'star class' option for the galmap display, then uncheck non sequence stars and white dwarfs) and then select 'Apply filter to route' which is right underneath where you just deselected the star types. It will then plot your route avoiding any of the star types that you selected. Just remember that if you like black holes they're also non sequence stars, so you won't be visiting any as long as you have neutron stars blocked out.

Sometimes the cone is very small and not easily scoopable. is that just the variety of characteristics in boosting or did I actually have a white dwarf and didnt realize it?

The system map will tell you conclusively what type of star you're looking at. Not all neutron stars are the same; some are very 'active' with huge jets (in particular when there's another star close by) others are the opposite with small wispy jets that are barely moving.

White dwarfs look different, in particular they have a far larger exclusion zone and they also have a very bright screen flare effect which isn't there at all for neutron stars.

From your description, you had one of the less active neutron stars.

 

[Lightspeed]

White Dwarfs can be deselected on the Gal Map. Oh Sorry, Red has already answered that one ... duh.

 

[Alex Brentnall]

All from my experience of Neutrons, probably done upwards of 3000 boosts by now.

Turbulence in the arm:
Massively reduced deceleration. Can still accelerate at normal speeds.
Random-ish induced movements. Restricted turning ability usually resulting in no greater than ~15-20 degrees of directional change until you exit the arm. Harder for larger ships to change direction but they get buffeted less than small ships.


Best practice is to enter from the star side pointing away. I've done several hundred back to back neutron star jumps buckyballing from Sol-Colonia or Sol-Beagle or Sol-Sag A* and this method is as close to flawless as I can get.

Here's an incredibly boring video showing my record time Sol-Colonia. Skip randomly to see the neutrons. Due to buckyballing whilst in the arm I'm actually in the galaxy map plotting my next jump so you miss the actual boost but you can see the approach vector and speeds I consistently set to get the boost without risk of being turned around.

[video=youtube;DDbWf4bvWZ8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDbWf4bvWZ8[/video]

Key trick is to pitch away from the neutron until the "impact" warning disappears and the yellow exclusion zone line vanishes. Worst case you hit the star but you'll be outside the arm so it'll just be an emergency stop and re-start the process from the top rather than a total loss.

 

[Deleted member 38366]

Here's how I do all my Neutron Jumps :

- Target next System enroute (optional! This removes the Autothrottle limitations by the nearby Star; Acceleration is far more sensitive but the unlocked Neutron allows for approx 100% faster leaving of the cone)
- carefully (!) fly towards a Cone's Center
- monitor Heat, if it reaches 50% I'll immediately start turning away from the Neutron since I'm getting too close to its exclusion zone
- aim for the middle to outer area of the Cone
- level off as to enter it with an approx. 20-30deg angle
- ensure speed is at 0.1c or below, but maintain some minimum speed (~3Mm/sec or more); minimum speed control ensures quick Supercharging, since it takes quite long at i.e. 30km/sec
- enter cone and monitor audio
- based on experience, a bit after 50% supercharge complete (audio feedback), throttle up to 50% if the cone size permits it (tiny cones require maintaining minimal speed until the supercharge is complete)

- I avoid high-speed entries or even perpendicular passes
- obviously never try to supercharge towards the Neutron, always away from it
- in case 90deg is exceeded due to uncontrollable Ship Motion (really affects small/medium Ships only it seems), Throttle up immediately to leave the Cone ASAP
- I never supercharge if my FSD is below 90% Integrity, will use AFMU to repair FSD at each refueling stop

So far : 100% success rate, never failed me during my many Colonia Trips or long-distance Exploration travels.

 

[Lightspeed]

As has been raised in another post, a FSD drive that fails while you are in the cone is fatal. Any chance your FSD was below, say 80% ?

 

[Shir]

I believe white dwarfs are much more dangerous than neutron stars. Never died in a neutron star, but got sucked into the exclusion zone of a white dwarf once and was unable to get out, ship was just spinning like crazy till i died.... Luckily wasn't exploring at the time!

But is it possible to rout out white dwarfs only and not neutron stars at the route plotter? I thought both are in non-sequence stars

 

[Yure]

Last night I found out first hand that those FSD-boosting neutron stars aren't just pretty and useful but can be quite deadly as well. Now, I don't mind the loss of my ship (I DO mind the loss of my co-pilot, but that's another thing) - I had plenty of insurance money and an hour later I had made twice the insurance amount... But what irks me is that I don't really know what I did wrong.

Thus far, whenever I used a neutron star, I would set the throttle to 0, and identify the nearest jet cone I could use (this is sometimes difficult, but in those cases I'll fly away a bit and approach from another angle). When identified, I approach what seems to be the tip of the cone and "dip" at a slow speed. Once the FSD is charged I add throttle and try to get out.

This has worked pretty well thus far... till last night, anyway. Once I charged the FSD and added throttle, the random ship twists and turns pointed me towards the star, and at that point attempts to slow down would fail, as did my attempts to change course. I ended up in the exclusion zone and despite my best efforts (throttle 0, charge FSD, aim away, boost) I was unable to recover.

People say that large ships handle better in the disturbances caused by a neutron star, but what I found is that it's almost always completely random - I'm at the mercy of the random churns and no amount of input seems to do anything. Perhaps it's the sluggish nature of the Cutter that I was flying, but I've also did some boosting in a Python, and my experience was similar.

So... what did I do wrong?

LOL! You know yesterday I saw your post and laughed out loud, as I thought it rather hilarious and your lack of situational awareness bordering on public drunkenness. Then I logged on to play and jumped to a neutron star. You know, one of those dangerous ones whose sphere of gravity, overheat and death is huge so you have to basically go immediately 90 degree u-turn (yeah I know... In my mind that makes sense... bare with me).

So there I was navigating around the yellow ring when suddenly I realize this thing is frigin huge and I'm going to have to depart from the gravity well and re-attack. So I do. Basically full blast away from it. Mind you I'm flying a T-9 whose current handle is that of a weighted slug.

...So eventually I complete my U-turn. I'm only a couple dozen lightseconds out (give me a break... Driving a whale and Got distracted by my kid)...

Anyways, there I am. Neutron star in front of me. I'm approaching slowly. FOR I have heard of the dangers of approaching a neutron star the wrong way. As I get closer I notice this neutron star looks different... Usually by now I should be angling left or right to start lining up to cut perpendicular into the arms... Except I see no arms... And that's when it happened. My t9 begins to groan like a metal being stressed and ripped apart. Every light in the flight deck starts blinking red. Smoke is rising from behind multiple control component. The epiphany hits me... "Oh... I saw no arms, because I was lined up directly into it... That makes sense... SHOT (replacement word for a messy curse word)"

Now as my ship begins to tumble, I first am thankful that I have rebut... Second I am thankful I basically had stripped it of every major component as I was doing cargo runs... Third that my cargo hull was empty (Not really good at that cargo running thing neither)... Lastly as I remembered the OPs post, I was thankful I hadn't bothered to login and reply a laugh....

But there I was... Tumbling... Slowly being tripped apart... Messages I hadn't even heard of before flashing in my HUD. When I get the feeling I slightly remembered reading about someone saying they managed to get out. "What was it?" I asked myself... "Oh yeah find a star any star ahead of you... Spam your fsd until it works... Stay aligned... Good luck. Well hell... Thats a lot of work... Surely I'll be dead by then."

Except I wasn't. Now I must take this moment to congratulate FDEV on the awesome death throes your ship does when inside a neutron. Really good stuff there. Gives you time about the poor choices you made in life.

Then am like.. What the neck let's try it. I quickly navigate to my navigation panel. I pick first system on the list... Behind me... Next one... Behind me... Next one off to far to the right... Next one bingo. I slam my Jump button. FSD failure. Again. Same message. I slam it a few more time... It catches! Then I turn it off as I spammed it too much. DoH! I do it again, it catches! Woot... FSD charging.

"Dude... This is happening.. Am getting out alive." Canopy blows out. "Slightly alive?" FSD 85%

"FRAK yeah come on baby! What SHOT..." I notice my whale of a ship was now 180° away from my target system. "No no no!" I struggle to get her on course. FSD malfunctions. "OH COME ON!"

Pick another system ... No good... Pick a few more, finally get one. After a few more J smashed, I get FSD charging... Then promptly FSD malfunction. "Damn it!"

In hopes to get things running again I reboot repair. Anxiously wait to die in the darkness that becomes my ship. Then everything comes back up... Everything... Red lights, bings and pings. FSD ...

Eh... It doesn't matter. I had a few more bouts to try. But at the end my ship was just too unwieldy and too damaged. Instead I committed myself to die and conducted a self destruct... Yeah it was taking way too long and my ship's modules were too damaged.

It sucked... And it was fun (a side effect of knowing I had a fairly cheap rebuy)... And it was dangerous. I learned a lesson in humility, that's for sure.

And a few more things.

1) Neutron stars have arms. When encountering one without one, immediately conduct a 90° U- Turn (it's a T-9 thing).

2) Don't panic. But quickly navigate your navigation panel. Pick a star in front of you and jump to it.

3) Engineer T-9 to dirty drive and not clean drive. Seriously even interdictions are more painful.

4) Always fly with a rebuy.